The Nobodies
by Neko Neko Rachie
Summary: AU- At 5 years old, Prince Yugi is depleted- his memories and powers gone- and sent away to a family in America. 10 years later, the barrier between The Realm of the Living, and the Shadow Realm is collapsing. Beings called Nobodies can now shoot through it- taking several souls with them. Yugi, his brother, and dog-like friend Joey have 6 days to close the barrier, or all will die
1. Prolouge

**A/N: Okay, I thought about it, and decided I'd test-run my idea for a book I had by making it into a fanfiction and making them a little OOC for story and action purposes.**

**So... Tell me if you like it, okay?**

**Prolouge:  
Depleted**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Daddy asked for the hundredth time.

Not that Yugi was complaining. He didn't want to go. He wanted to stay with Mommy and Daddy and Atem forever.

"Yes." Mommy said, an edge to her voice.

Yugi knew that edge- she was worried.

Why was Mommy worried? Had Nobodies crossed through the barrier again?

But they could stop them.

They could.

They always did.

"I understand that you worry, Auknemnkanan, but we must keep our boys safe."

Daddy sighed.

"I do, but to deplete him?"

Yugi felt his back go ridged.

They... They were going to _deplete him_?

Atem's hand clenched his twin brothers from their hiding spot, and they looked at each other- red into amethyst.

His determined gaze told his brother that he would not let this happen.

"It is necessary." Mommy said, turning the two boy's attention back to their parents, "If we deplete him, his powers will be lowered, making the Nobodies believe he is not worth killing. And if he can't remember... He won't come looking."

How could they _do_ this?

He may have only been 5, and only able to count to 7, but he knew that parents were not supposed to deplete their sons!

Atem's hand had begun to clench his brother's so hard that it was beginning to hurt, but Yugi didn't mind. He would always remember his brother.

Always and forever.

"I just don't think it's right to do that to a child." Daddy said again, his dark red eyes- that he shared with Atem- sad, and lonely, like a puppy that got lost.

Yugi hated to see Daddy like this.

Usually he was happy and lovely, laughing and playing with his children, and taking care of the Land with all the happiness he did with Yugi and Atem.

He wouldn't let Mommy deplete him.

He wouldn't.

Mommy sighed, the way she did when Atem and Yugi "bothered" her when she was working, and looked at Daddy.

"You know that it's for the best. And if you wish for your sons to live, you will keep them apart. Apart, even without depletion, they'd die anyways. But with depletion... Yugi will be safe. They both will. If they're together, that much power could attract enough Nobodies to break through our barriers. You know that's true, and we will go through with this. Besides, the Motos will take good care of him."

She didn't ask it. If she was asking, it would be questioning.

She knew that Daddy loved them, and that he wanted to keep them safe.

"We love you, too, Daddy..." Yugi whispered.

Mommy and Daddy didn't seem to notice his whisper. They were completely out of this world, not paying attention to anything else.

But not Mommy.

Mommy really _was_ out of this world.

She was reaching into the Shadow Realm, to call upon the one who would be in charge of Yugi's depletion.

The execution of Prince Yugi. The birth of Yugi Moto.

And the end of his memories.

…

**Sorry if you're confused, it'll be explained later.**

**But I really like this idea, so some feedback would help.**

**:3**


	2. Chapter 1: 10 Years Later

**Chapter One****:  
10 Years Later**

"Mr. Moto!"

"Eh?"

Yugi jerked his head off the desk, where he'd fallen asleep.

Again.

"Would you mind telling me the name of the first Prime Minister of Canada?"

"Uh..."

Oh god he was getting a blank.

It wasn't his fault that he got sleepy in History.

Don't get him wrong, he loved the subject, but it was at 8: 15 in the morning.

"I don't know, ma'am..." He said awkwardly.

The teacher pointed at him with a metal pointer.

"You'd best pay attention in my class, or I'll have to give you detention."

If he got another detention, his grandfather would kill him.

"Yes, ma'am..." He said nervously, fiddling with his hands in his lap.

He payed attention the rest of the class- which was, like, 20 minutes- and learned that the first Prime Minister of Canada- "Why Canada?" He grumbled to himself, "I thought we were in America."- was John A. MacDonald, who had been a major part in Confederation.

Whatever that was.

Finally, the bell rang, and Joey grinned at him.

"Fall asleep again, and you are so screwed."

Joey was a tall boy- taller than Yugi, anyways- with poofy blond hair, and warm brown eyes. He was quite loveable, and very loyal, almost like a dog.

"It's not my fault I didn't sleep last night."

Why?

He'd been having nightmares for weeks.

Every single one of them was about a dark, swirling, purply-black place, creatures swirling in and out.

_Come play with us, Yugi... Play... PlaaaaAAAAAAY..._

He'd wake up in a cold sweat, and spend hours watching cat videos on the internet in order to calm himself down.

"Just dreams..." He told himself, "Only... Only dreams..."

But he wasn't too sure about that statement.

Joey shook his head.

"Take sleeping pills or something." He said.

"You know what those things do to me."

Every time he took sleeping pills, he would grow hives so itchy he wanted to rip his skin off, and he didn't even sleep.

"Right..." Joey said.

Yugi rubbed the pendant around his neck nervously.

It was the only thing he had left from his birth family, who'd died in a fire.

It was an upside-down pyramid with the Eye of Horus on the front.

Yugi had no idea what it meant, but it was part of him, all he had left.

He'd never do anything with it except keep it around his neck.

His eyes shot to the window beside them, where he swore he saw a dark shadow move across glass, much to slowly and large to be a student.

It was probably just his nerves, he told himself.

"Nothing to be afraid of..." He mumbled.

"What?" Joey asked.

"N-nothing." Yugi said, pulling his eyes away from the window, "Talking to myself."

They split for their second period class, Yugi headed to Art, Joey to Math, and Yugi continued his inner rant.

He'd always seen things like that.

Things would move too fast to be normal, or he'd see things that shouldn't be there, like a piece of the universe had fallen out.

The counselor told him it was just his ADHD, his brain misinterpreting things, but he didn't really believe that.

But it's not like he was crazy.

Crazy people didn't wonder if they were crazy, and he wondered that several times during the day, especially over the past few weeks.

The weird things- Oh, excuse him, his "ADHD"- seemed to be happening a lot more throughout these weeks, and it was starting to bug him.

A lot.

He shuddered and stepped into the Art classroom, taking his usual spot and setting his bag beside him.

"Hey, Yugi."

Téa Gardner sat beside him, and Yugi forced the blush down.

"Hey." Yugi said, "What's up?"

"Nothing much." She said, "Did you get that sarcophagus project finished?"

"Oh, yeah."

Yugi slipped it out of his bag.

"Wow.." Téa said, "Are those actual-"

"Actual hieroglyphics, yeah. My Grandfather was an archeologist before he retired and gave me some usual things they put on the sarcophagus." He pointed to one, "This is a magical one, usually helps the soul travel to the after-life..."

He started naming them off, a couple others coming over to listen.

"Wow." Téa said, "That's amazing."

Yugi grinned.

"I know, right?"

"Alright, class!" Called the teacher, "Sit down if you will. I'm sure Mr. Moto has some amazing stories to share. Probably keeps it up in that hair."

They all laughed.

"I trust you all finished your assignments?" He asked.

He went around, and they handed all handed their projects back.

"Excellent job, Mr. Moto." He said, and Yugi felt a rush of pride at that.

But the rush disappeared when he saw something flitter outside the window... A small, vaguely humanoid shape, fluttering in glitter, motioning for him to go into the hall.

"What are you looking at?" Téa asked.

It had to be a hallucination... He didn't even know what it was, but it was freaking him out.

But at the same time... He felt as though he should listen to the fluttering glob of glitter outside his window. After all, they did it in the movies.

But usually someone that follows someone into a empty school hallway gets murdered...

He decided he'd stay right where he was, and payed attention.

"We'll be moving on to facial expressions." The teacher said, and the glob of glitter _knocked_ on the window.

Yugi kept his eyes on the teacher. He would not look over. If he didn't look over, he could pretend it wasn't real.

It couldn't be real.

He was having one of those moments... It would disappear. It had to.

It would; It would; It would.

It huffed and put it's hands on it's hips, stomping the glitter beneath it's feet.

He was not imagining it.

They say the magical word is "Please".

No.

If you want to get out of class, you say,

"Sir, I think I'm going to throw up."

The teacher turned on Yugi.

"Well, go! Don't throw up in here!"

Yugi nodded and scrambled for the door way, coming out into the hall.

"Took ya long enough." Said a high, female voice.

He shrieked, seeing the thing that had been outside the window.

He could see now that it was a girl- a tiny human with wings, glitter fluttering around her.

"Oh sweet Lord you're a fairy." Yugi said, staring at her, wide-eyed.

"Duh!" She said, "Did you, by any chance, think I was a Shadow Beast?"

Yugi stuttered for several seconds.

Now he really did feel like he was going to throw up.

"Well- I- No- But what is- Oh god- I'm so-"

"Calm down." She said, making a gesture to follow he words, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to protect you."

"Okay..." Yugi said, his voice high. He moved back a pace, "But, uh, would you mind telling me, uh, _what_ exactly you're protecting me from...?"

"Nobodies." She said.

"Well, if you're protecting me from nobody, then why did you-"

"No." She said, shaking her head, "Not nobody. _Nobodies._" At his blank expression, she added, "You know. The big Shadow that break through the Dimensional Wall and take souls, posses people, kill people, try to kill Magicians."

Yugi felt the blood shoot from his face.

"I mean- I just- I wasn't trying to scare you- I mean-" She huffed and bowed her head, holding out her hand formally, "Fairy Escort Grelinda at your service, Your Highness!"

"'Your Highness'?" Yugi asked.

She clamped her dainty hands over her mouth.

"I wasn't supposed to say that!" She said, her voice slightly muffled from her hands.

"I-"

She took her hands from her mouth, her tiny expression suddenly serious.

"I need to get you out of here..." She said, "The Nobodies sense you..."

"Wait, what?"

But she grabbed him by one of his bangs and dragged him down the hall, towards their certain doom.

…

**Like? Like?**

**Geez, people, some feedback wouldn't hurt.**


	3. Chapter2:NobodyWillHelpYouOnceYoureTheir

**Chapter Two****:  
Nobody will Help you  
Once your Theirs**

Yugi scrambled through the hallways, the fairy- which he was still debating whether it was a hallucination or not- fluttering along beside him.

As luck would have it, he turned a corner and ran right into Ushio Tetsu.

"Hello, Yugi." He said, grinning down at the smaller boy.

The fairy fluttered into his hair.

"H-hi, Ushio..." Yugi stuttered.

"Were you just running?" Ushio asked, "In the hallway?"

"Well, that depends." Yugi said, his voice higher than normal with fear, "What do you consider running, like, is it 4 miles per hour, or, like, 7, 'cause, I mean, that's really debatable and-"

Yugi was answered with a kick in the chest.

He gasped bending over, holding it.

"I said," Ushio growled, grabbing Yugi by the front of his uniform, "_Were you running in the hallway_?"

"Y-yes..." Yugi gasped, the pain still prickling in his chest.

"Well." Ushio's lips gave a sad smile, but his eyes betrayed him. He looked positively amused, "You know what the punishment is."

Yugi nodded rapidly several times, awaiting the beating.

And it came.

Ushio kneed him in the chest from the way they stood, his fist coming across Yugi's face.

The smaller boy cowered on the floor, unable to do much.

Ushio grabbed Yugi by the front of his uniform and pulled his fist back. Yugi cringed but did not flinch.

It's not like it was anything new.

"Unhand him!" Called a voice- deep, handsome, and definitely familiar.

Ushio turned around, and Yugi looked over.

There was a man- No. No. He was a boy. Only 2 years older than Yugi, 17 (How did he know that?)- standing there.

He was tall, sharp eyes outlined with... Was that kohl?... his eyes a dark crimson red that should've brought back memories, but only got a determined look in those eyes.

And he'd only been 7.

His skin was deeply tanned, bringing out the baggy white shirt he wore, along with the skirt-like bottoms that would've made Yugi laugh had he not just been beat the crap out of. He had a blue cape on, and heavy Ancient Egyptian necklaces that could not have been comfortable. He wore gold rings around his neck, forearms and shins,

He had the same pendant as Yugi- an upside-down pyramid with the Eye of Horus on it.

And he was pointing stick at Ushio.

But it wasn't just a stick.

It was a 3-foot long... Staff? Yes that was right... Rounded on one end and sharp on the end.

And he looked more confident than Yugi ever could, his dark eyes glaring into Ushio's back ones.

"I said," The boy said, raising the staff a little higher, "_Unhand him._"

Ushio laughed aloud.

"What're ya gonna do?" He asked, "Poke me?"

The boy's eyes flashed, and he pulled the staff back.

Faster than Yugi's mind could process, the boy thrust the staff forward there was a flash, and a _woosh_ of heat.

Ushio released Yugi and screamed, running around with his clothes on fire.

The boy simply flicked the staff, and the fire died.

He walked right up to Ushio, calmly- He definitely had the air of someone powerful and confident- and got right in his face.

His smile died, replaced with a snarl.

He grabbed Ushio and shoved him into a wall.

"If you _ever_ treat my brother- or anyone, for that matter- like that, _ever again_, I will find you." His eyes narrowed, "Next time, I won't be so nice."

He released his hands from Ushio's shoulders, and the guy went scrambling down the hallway.

The boy looked at Yugi- who was currently having some serious nostalgia to something he couldn't pin down- and smiled.

"Good to see you again." He said, "Do you remember me?"

"I-I..." Yugi said in absolute intelligence.

"I'll take that as a no." The boy said sadly, "My name is-"

"Atem." Yugi said, the memory coming to him as fresh as a new day, "Atem. Your name is Atem. You're my older brother."

Atem smiled.

"So you do remember?" He asked.

He didn't jump up and down, or rock back and forth on the balls of his feet. He was positively poised and proper.

And it was a little annoying.

"B-bits and pieces..." Yugi said quietly.

The fairy fluttered out of his hair- straight towards Atem.

"I'm sorry Your Highness!" She wailed, "I couldn't do anything against that guy! I'm just a fairy! We're not really made for fighting, you know-"

"It's alright, Grelidina." Atem said, "It is not your fault."

The fairy seemed so relieved, she might cry.

"Thank you!" She said, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Atem smiled.

"You know I don't make a habit of punishing those who at least tried."

She bowed several times.

"Thank you, sir!"

"She called you 'Your Highness', like, twice." Yugi stated intelligently.

That is, to say, not intelligently at all.

"Yes, well, she is in servitude to the Kingdom, after all-"

"Look." Yugi spat, standing up, "I've been having a _really bad day_. A really bad couple of weeks, actually. Nightmare after nightmare after nightmare! And you know what, I'm a little tired of it! So if someone could stop being so _damn vague_ maybe I could get along with whatever's happening to me a little better! I already see things, what's an little bit more of crazy, huh!?"

Atem stared at him.

"Whoever you are, whatever you're here for, after _10 fucking _years, mind you, lay it on me! WHAT THE HELL DO I CARE!?"

"Yug... Are you alright?"

Joey was coming up the hallway.

He must have been in the washroom down the hall when Yugi was yelling.

Yugi spluttered and screamed, running his hands through his hair.

"No!" He shouted, "No, I'm not!"

"Yugi." Atem said, "If you'll listen, I'll talk."

Yugi turned on him, eyes blazing

He threw his hands in the air.

"Fine. Whatever. Screw it. Talk."

"Well-"

The windows shuddered, and Atem paled.

"Both of you, follow me." He said, seriousness present in his voice, "_Now_."

Yugi somehow knew that voice- worry.

He'd always hated it when people worried, but with windows shuddering like that, Yugi figured he had every right to be worried.

He turned and ran down the hall, Yugi and Joey scrambling behind them.

"So, Yug." Joey said, "Who is this guy?"

"My brother."

Joey tilted his head.

"I didn't know you had one of those."

"Neither did I until about 5 minutes ago."

Atem's eyes shot to the windows and he turned around, grabbing them around the back of the necks.

"GET DOWN!" He shouted, pulling them down.

Almost simultaneously, the windows shattered inwards, and the creatures from Yugi's nightmares flooded the room.

Dark, purpley-black blobs, with faces changing a thousand different times.

Dolls.

Yugi almost screamed.

He was terrified of those things, they were always in his nightmares.

Joey was curled into a ball, whimpering, and muttering,

"No..." He whispered, "No, leave Serenity alone... Please... PLEASE!"

Soon he was shrieking, and Yugi didn't know what to do.

So, he rounded on his brother.

"HELP HIM!"

"He must fight his own way out, or I could shatter his mind."

Yugi had had enough with his brother already.

10 years and not a ruddy birthday card.

He placed his hand on Joey's shoulder.

"Joey..." He said quietly.

Joey gripped Yugi's wrist, as if trying to find a way out through him.

"It's not real." Yugi said.

"I-it feels real..." Joey whispered, his pupil-less eyes looking up at his friend.

"I know you can hear me, but you need to see me." Yugi said, "Fight those things. Screw the probation. You have to."

His voice was more confident than it had been in years.

Joey struggled.

Yugi screamed as lights were shattered, the Shadows swirling across the ceiling.

"YUGI!" Joey screamed, gripping to him tighter.

"I'm okay, Joey, I'm okay! Just... Fight them. Please."

He hadn't meant for his voice to crack, but he knew what would happen if Joey lost his fight.

He'd be gone.

Forever.


	4. Chapter 3: To Wild Yonder

**Chapter Three****:  
To Wild Yonder**

They'd been there forever.

Yugi could hear the Nobodies swirling around them, he could _feel_ them messing around with Joey.

"C'mon, man..." Yugi whispered, "Please..."

Joey was shaking under his arm, his hand clenching Yugi's wrist so hard it might have been cutting of circulation.

Joey whimpered.

"God damn it, Joey! GET UP!" Yugi shook his friend desperately.

"Yugi." Atem said, "He's not getting up."

Yugi whirled around to face his brother.

"I WILL NOT LEAVE UNTIL HE STANDS UP!" He shrieked.

"Yugi!" He heard Téa call, "Yugi, where are you!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Yugi shouted as Téa came into view. She looked horribly pale, but she hadn't died.

"I'm trying to- What's wrong with Joey?" Here last sentence came quiet and shocked.

At that point, Yugi almost broke.

His best friend, who he'd been through everything with, who had gotten a probation, and would be willing to risk expulsion to help him, was slowly loosing his soul.

"There's no point." Atem said.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" Yugi screeched at him, "I'VE KNOWN YOU FOR 10 MINUTES AND I ALREADY WANT TO STRANGLE YOU, SO CAN YOU PLEASE _SHUT UP_?"

Atem looked slightly hurt, but clenched his staff tighter, keeping up the protective shield he'd put around them.

He couldn't keep it much longer.

Téa sat beside Yugi.

Yugi slipped his hand into Joey's. Not a romantic gesture, as some would make it out to be. No. He was reassuring his friend.

"Joey." He said quietly, "Look at me."

He moved Joey's face upwards to look at him.

His eyes were half shut, his mouth shaking in a whimper.

"It's not real..." He said quietly, "Please, Joey... Fight it..."

Joey's mouth slowly curved into a scowl, and then his face scrunched up in concentration.

His eyes shot open, pupils back, and he gasped, sitting up and clutching to Yugi.

Yugi laughed, half-hysteric, half-relieved, and hugged his friend back.

Atem was obviously exerting too much energy.

"We should probably get going."

Atem stood.

"One..." He counted, "Two... THREE!"

He released the shield and dived out the window.

"IS HE INSANE?!" Téa shouted.

"I'm beginning to think so." Yugi grumbled, supporting Joey as they went to the window.

"What are you doing!?" Téa demanded.

"Do you want to go through a whole school of that?" He asked, throwing himself out the window.

They were two stories up, but Atem caught him.

"C'mon, Téa!" Yugi shouted, "Jump!"

Téa considered it, and leaped.

Atem caught her as well, and she put her arm under Joey's armpit and over his shoulder, giving him a bit more comfort than Yugi holding him.

They scrambled around the school and across the courtyard.

Yugi heard newscasters talking.

"Fire at Domino High School..."

"... Horrible fire. Luckily, no one was killed..."

Fire?

How could anyone call _that_ a fire.

They stepped onto the street, and Yugi realized just how bad they all looked.

Atem's hair and face was streaked with grime and pale from the effort of keeping a spell going for that long. Téa was better off, pale, but not dead. Yugi, himself, had a red hand from Joey squeezing his wrist so hard, and tears on his face.

Joey was the worst off.

He was pale and terrified, that was obvious. He tried to stand and had to use a wall for support, eventually using Téa.

Atem walked right up to a Jeep and crawled into the front seat.

"Where did you get this?" Yugi asked.

"Stole it." He said bluntly.

Joey took a step back, nearly falling over in the process.

"Don't worry." He said, "I'll take it back. They probably don't even know it's gone. Common minds are easy to manipulate." He looked at them for a long time, "Well get in."

Téa helped Joey into the back seat, and Yugi climbed into the shotgun seat.

Seat belts on, they drove off.

…

"Would you mind explaining to me what the hell is going on?" Yugi demanded as they exited Domino, "Where are we going? What are we doing? Why did those things attack?"

Atem took a breath.

"You deserve an explanation." He said, his fingers flexing on the steering wheel. He took a breath and began, "When you were 5, Mother and Father decided that it would be best for both of us, for all of us, if we were separated... And to do that... They had to deplete you."

"What does that mean?" Yugi asked, feeling his hands shake.

"To deplete a magician... You lower their abilities, their sight, and repress their memories... It is commonly used to keep a magician safe if they are too powerful..."

"You're saying my- our- parents took my memories?" Yugi felt hurt. How could you do that to a child?

"Yugi, it was necessary. If we stayed together, our power... We could attract enough Shadows to break through the barriers, a-and..." He flattered, clutching the steering wheel so hard his knuckles where white, "You don't want that to happen. So, we staged your death. Said you fell off a roof... It was kind of like you did die, you know?" Atem looked over at his brother, his crimson eyes sparkling with tears, "I'm glad we're together again, but you must keep in mind, now that we're together the depletion is deactivated. Your powers will grow, and... We have to close the barrier properly. But to do that... We'd need all 7 Millennium Items."

"Millennium whats-it-nows?" Joey asked, sounding quite well for someone who's mind had been trapped in the Shadows.

"The Millennium Items." Atem said, "Yugi and I share one- The Millennium Puzzle. Father split it in order to make sure that I could know it was him. But the others... No one has seen many for thousands of years. The Tombkeepers- the Ishtars- have kept the Necklace and Rod safe for millennia, but... They were stolen, recently." His fingers tightened around the wheel again, and he snarled with quite a lot of hatred, "I am very sure I know who it was."

Téa asked,

"Who?"

Atem straightened his back, realizing he'd been slouching.

"A thief. His name is Bakura. He..." His hands shook with rage on the wheel, "I will never forgive him for disgracing my father like that. Dragged his bloody sarcophagus across-" He stopped and willed himself to calm down, "But on the other hand, we're headed to New York."

"Why?" Yugi asked.

"The closest portal is there. It will take us to Rome. But, Yugi, we must be careful. Egytians and Romans... We don't really have the best track record with each other. A-and if the ghost found out I was a-" He stopped himself.

"You're a what?" Yugi asked quietly.

"That I'm a pharaoh." He said quietly, keeping his eyes on the road.

"That's crazy." Yugi said, though he'd seen enough crazy to see that this was not, "The pharaohs haven't been around for, like, 3000 years."

"Not on the surface, at least."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joey demanded.

Atem took another deep breath.

"Ancient Egypt has flourished underground, in large caverns underneath Modern Egypt. A-and... Yugi and I... We are of the Royal Line. As the eldest, and the only one presumably alive at the time, I took up the role of the Pharaoh, a-after... After Father..."

He turned his head away so none of us would see his expression. Yugi could see from his shaking shoulders that hew was crying.

Yugi wanted to comfort him, but didn't know how.

It wasn't like he'd known him forever and could just hug him.

He didn't even know how he liked his coffee, his favourite shirt, what his favourite ruddy colour was!

How were they supposed to be brothers without knowing anything about each other?

Atem sat up straight, wiping is eyes carefully, as not to smear the kohl.

"I-I suppose that we should keep going." He said, his voice tight, "Just... Just drive."

And so they did.

…

**Aw, Atem! :( **


End file.
